GLUBOKOYE

GLUBOKOYE (Pol. Głębokie), Molodechno district, Belarus, in Poland until 1793 and from 1921 to 1939. Jews are mentioned there in the middle of the 16th century. Within the framework of the Council of Lithuania (see *Councils of the Lands) Glubokoye came under the jurisdiction of the *Smorgon community. Samuel *Mohilever was rabbi there from 1848 to 1856. Jews traded in lumber, farm products, and bristles, exporting them to Poland and Russia. They also owned flour mills and hide-processing factories. Most identified themselves with the Chabad Ḥasidism. The community numbered 755 in 1766, 3,917 in 1897 (70% of the total population), and 2,844 in 1921 (63%). After WWI Jewish trade was only partially revived. In 1927 a Hebrew Tarbut school was opened.

Holocaust Period

In September 1939 Glubokoye was annexed to the Soviet Belorussian Republic. All Jewish public life ceased and Jewish institutions were closed. The town was occupied by the Germans on July 2, 1941. In the first days several Jews accused of being Communists were put to death. When many of the prisoners in the Soviet jail of nearby Berezwiecz were found dead the blame was placed on the Jews and a pogrom was prevented only after intercession by R. Josef Ha-Levi Katz. In early November 1941 a ghetto was set up in the town and the Jews there were grouped into two categories: those fit for work, and the sick and the aged. Jews from the nearby towns of Sharkovshchisna, Postawy, and Plissa were also brought to the ghetto and its population reached 6,000. On March 25, 1942, 105 Jews were arrested and shot. Following this Aktion, the youth tried to organize and make contact with the partisans. On June 19, 1942, about 2,500 Jews classified "unfit for work" were murdered in the Borek forest. In 1943 Soviet partisans attacked targets in the vicinity of Glubokoye. The Germans, fearing that contact might be established between the ghetto and the partisans, began to deport the Jews and liquidate the ghetto. On August 20, 1943, members of the Judenrat were ordered to organize the Jews for deportation. Upon entering the ghetto, the Germans met with armed resistance by Jewish groups. Some Jews tried to break through the siege, but few succeeded. In order to break the resistance and to prevent a mass escape, the Germans set the ghetto on fire and left 5,000 dead. Jews from Glubokoye who managed to escape joined partisan units, including the Kaganovich unit. About 100 survived the Holocaust. The community was not reconstituted after World War II.